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Will Ottawa help the wounded children of Gaza?

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish wants the federal government to do its part to aid his efforts to bring 100 wounded Gazan children for treatment in Ontario hospitals.

Palestinian children, wounded in an Israeli air strike on the al-Shati refugee camp, lie on stretchers as they are treated at the al-Shefa hospital in Gaza City, on August 4, 2014. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

By Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish

Mon., Aug. 11, 2014

Canadians have watched with horror and sadness as the conflict in Gaza has reignited. Images of innocent children wounded and suffering fill our screens and newspapers. While efforts to create a lasting ceasefire continue, these children wait for an end to their pain and for a reason to hope.

As a father and a medical doctor I could not stand by and watch the children bleeding and crying in pain. I see in these children my own daughter Shatha, who was severely wounded five years ago and who needed immediate medical treatment. She received outstanding care from my colleagues in Israel and her eye was saved as a result. She is now about to graduate from the University of Toronto as a computer engineer.

That experience was my inspiration for the Canadian humanitarian initiative heal100kids. I propose to bring 100 children, stable enough to travel and most able to benefit from the world-class facilities available at Ontario’s hospitals, for temporary rehabilitative treatment here.

The initiative was met with immediate support from Canadian officials at every level, including Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, the leader of the Ontario Federation of Labour, Sid Ryan, and then, crucially, the Ontario provincial government and, in particular, Health Minister Eric Hoskins, who is himself a health professional and therefore knowledgeable about the needs of children in war. He studied the proposal and supported it only after a full investigation and discussion satisfied him that ours is an achievable goal.

Five Ontario hospitals including Hamilton Health Sciences, Kingston General Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Hospital for Sick Children and London Health Sciences Centre have all come forward to join heal100kids. They have considered all of the challenges involved and are confident our goals can be achieved.

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This apolitical humanitarian initiative is not the first of its kind. Canadians have often expressed their values in this way, by reaching out and helping those in need elsewhere in the world. In less than a week, some 50,000 people have expressed support for heal100kids through social media campaigns.

Yet concerns have been raised about the health status of the children and the viability of their travelling such a distance. In fact, only children stable enough to travel will be involved. Among these, the greatest need is for reconstructive surgeries for orthopedic, ophthalmologic, burn and vascular injuries. By providing this care, we can help to avoid an entire generation of disabled Palestinians. We must act soon before the damage is irreparable or the reconstruction and rehabilitation more difficult and complicated. The vision, limbs, mobility and future of these children can be restored. Heal100kids asks so little of us and means so much for these children, their families and their communities.

The situation in Gaza is too unstable and unsafe to send over teams of Canadian doctors. Nor can we send field hospitals or equipment, since the local personnel are completely overwhelmed and even water and electricity supplies are unpredictable.

In Ontario, we have the entire medical/rehabilitative ecosystem — the facilities, equipment and the full range of trained medical professionals — that is needed to provide the immediate short-term intervention that can make all the difference.

The Gaza Strip has been overloaded with civilian injuries, which now number roughly 10,000. Israel is treating some of the most severely wounded Gazan children in its outstanding hospitals, but not all can be treated there. I am assured that the Egyptian and Israeli authorities will co-operate with heal100kids. With the hospitals in nearby Jordan already overflowing due to the Syrian crisis, it is my hope that other countries will follow the example of heal100kids and undertake initiatives of their own.

Canadians have been and can continue to be leaders in global health. We are well known as peacemakers and for helping refugees around the world. In this case, the moral call to action could not be clearer; it is rooted in the universal responsibility toward children. Canada should heed the call of this apolitical humanitarian initiative and show ourselves once again to be a leader by example on the world stage.

Heal100kids has widespread and exceptional support and all the necessary medical and logistical pieces are in place to get started. The only missing piece is the approval of issuing visas to the children and their guardians. This is our urgent request to the federal government of Canada.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Palestinian physician and author of I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey, a memoir about the loss of his three daughters, Bessan, Mayar and Aya, and their cousin Noor to Israeli shelling in 2009.

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